“Yes!” Lenny shouts as he saunters in. “Kane’s famous pancakes!”
“Dude, we’re all right here. We can hear you,” Collin mutters as he strides in right behind Lenny. He grabs his own food and then leaves without another word.
“He’s not a morning person,” Kane responds to my unanswered question. I nod my understanding and take my last bite before pushing my plate away. I swear my stomach has doubled in size, I’m so full.
The kitchen is full of rambunctious activity as Lenny and Kane fuck around with each other and banter back and forth, and I’m content just to watch them. Eventually though, time draws near, and I excuse myself back to my room.
I grab my things and sling my bag over my shoulder. I look down at my phone. I nearly don’t grab it, but I know I’ll need it, so I slip it into my pocket with unease before my exit.
The walk to class is refreshing. The cool summer air is nice against my freshly showered skin, and I relish in the dampness of it as I walk the few blocks to my first building of the day. Other students are milling about, and for the first time since I left home, I finally feel like I belong.
No one is looking at me twice. I’m just another classmate to them. And it feels so nice to be just like everybody else.
God,college is hard.
My brainphysicallyhurts. And it was only the first day.
I don’t know how I’m going to survive four years of this.
There’s too much information, and I don’t know where to store it all.
I stare blankly down at all my notebooks before opening my laptop, and I just start scribbling all the information I can remember until my hand is cramping and my brain doesn’t feel quite so full.
And now, it’s time to organize it all.
I flip through different folders and notebooks until each class is organized by their own color and corresponding notes. It takes me hours, but by the time I’m done, everything is effectively how it should be, and my brain feels less full than it did, so I call it a success.
I shove my schoolwork away from me, groaning as I stretch out my legs. I’ve been stuck in the same position for hours without realizing, and my entire body aches because of it.
A knock sounds at the door, and I jolt with surprise.
“Yes?”
“Just me,” Kane says as he pushes my door open. He’s got two plates of steaming food in his hands and a sheepish smile on his face. “Brought some food because you’ve been stuck in here for hours and I figured you might be hungry.”
“Uh.” My face flames. “Y-yeah. That’s… that’s great. Th-thank you.” I stand and take one of the plates from him and greedily inhale the scent of cheesy chicken and rice. “Smells amazing.”
“Thanks. My parents loved to cook, so I guess I kinda just took on that quality from them?” He poses it like a question as he sits at the foot of my bed. It’s then he reaches into his hoodie pocket and pulls out two cans of Dr. Pepper and hands one to me.
I take it with a shy smile and a soft thanks that makes my face burn hotter than ever. Kane just nods his head and leans back against my bedframe and dives into his food without a word said, like this silence between us is comfortable.
But I guess maybe it is because I don’t feel inclined to talk, really. It’s nice to just eat and not feel like I’m forced to make conversation.
Plus, this food is really freaking good—and I tell Kane that, too.
He chuckles lightly, and it makes my heart flutter a bit.
“Thanks, Mads.”
“Y-you-you’re welcome,” I stutter over the words, hating myself more than ever that I can’t just spit things out like a normal person. My tongue always sticks to the roof of my mouth, like it’s glued in place, and I have to chew my way around it just to speak.
“So, how was your first day?” Kane asks, fork scraping across the paper plate he’s using.
I blow out a breath, thankful for this topic because it’s easy enough.
“Long. And exhausting. I don’t know what I expected, but I didn’t think I’d be this tired—mentally, anyway. There’s just a lot in my brain that I don’t know what to do with,” I tell him honestly, pushing a few grains of rice around with the prongs of my fork.
“Ah, yeah. I know exactly what you mean. But you’ll get used to it. I know that sounds cliché, but you will. It just takes time.”
